BUILDING PLANS: APPEAL TO REVIEW BOARD UNCONSTITUTIONAL
City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Chairman of the National Building Regulations Review Board and Others (CCT186/17) [2018] ZACC 15 (7 June 2018)
In terms of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, a municipality is charged with the duty to approve or reject building plan applications in its jurisdiction. Since the Constitution further grants municipalities autonomy with regards to building regulations and municipal planning, another or ‘higher’ arm of government cannot usurp these powers. The question which arose here was whether the Review Board, established in terms of the aforementioned Act and at national government level, could validly adjudicate appeals against decisions of the municipality to approve plans? The Constitutional Court held that insofar as the Review Board adjudicated on objections, the municipality’s powers was usurped, and the action unconstitutional. Going forward, the make-up of an appeals board will therefore have to be amended so as to retain the decision-making authority within the municipality.
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The Judgment
Summary of the Judgment
STBB’s STSMA REFERENCE GUIDE
In this, the fifty-sixth set of notes for your STSMA Reference Guide, Prescribed Conduct Rule 4 is discussed.
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Prescribed Conduct Rule 4
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